Imagine this: You’ve had a very stressful week at work. You’re an amateur boxer, and you’ve had no time to prepare for this year’s big memorial event. It’s a special occasion held in honor of a late boxing legend from your town, bringing together retired boxers and serious amateurs from across the country and beyond. Although it’s not a professional-level event, it’s highly regarded in your community, attracting many important people.

The evening before the event, you learn about your draw. You feel completely unprepared—again. But then, you discover your opponent is an amateur who makes you look like a pro. He’s a sports enthusiast, sure, but boxing isn’t really his thing. He’s a runner who wants to prove you can replace talent with persistence, which is why he took on boxing classes. Ha!

The next day, you give 50% of your best effort, and you win! How does the victory feel?

I won’t give you the opposite example—you can imagine it yourself. The one where you give 100% grind and grit, only to lose by a knockout.

Both situations suck when taken at face value.

However, the first one sucks more. Why? Because if you’re a true athlete in mind and spirit, you know this goes against your core values, which likely include discipline, grit, grind, and improving every day by that notorious 1%! Tired of hearing that percentage? Fine, let’s make it 0.5%. Still a respectable goal. And let’s be honest: you shouldn’t deserve to win if you haven’t met all the prerequisites.

In the second scenario, though, you’ve done everything right. Yet, you still lost. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s a reminder that life isn’t always about getting what you put in.

So, What’s the key here?

The key is to redefine the concept of winning when you’re not winning—when it’s not your day or your week, as the Friends theme song says.

How do you redefine winning? By understanding that you’ve won if you’ve given your best.

Winning isn’t about the final result; it’s about the effort you put in.

And to make your best even better every day, you need failure. How else are you going to grow?

So, set yourself up for success by doing the following:

• Prepare yourself as best as you can
• Give your all when it’s showtime
• Accept the outcome like a warrior—not a worrier
• Move on to the next challenge.